Suspension Repair

Common problems with air suspension systems in the UAE

The most common cause of air suspension failures is a leak in one of the front suspension struts, specifically the bellows. The reason the front struts are more likely to fail than the rears is because the majority of a car’s weight distribution is at the front. Often, when one front strut fails and is no longer suspending the car, the adjacent strut quickly follows suit due to the added weight it now has to deal with.

The second most common failure occurs in the compressor. Intake air first moves through a filter intended to remove any particulates in the air, then directly into the compressing chamber where a piston forces the air into a smaller volume. The compressed air then moves through the air dryers before it is sent to the struts and accumulator. This means that in the humid environment of the UAE, the compressor is exposed to a high amount of condensed water which serves to accelerate wear on the parts that make up the compressor. Another factor that decreases the lifespan of these compressors is the fine particulates that tend to linger in our air due to the high temperatures and humidity. These particulates deteriorate the intake filter over time and a small fraction of these particulates make it through, hastening the wear of the compressor.

The next most common failure is the valve block. The valve block is made of several one-way and two-way valves that receive and send air from and throughout the system. The UAE’s high temperatures do serve to cause additional wear on the valve block, but not to a significant degree, it is simply a vulnerable part of the system.

Air suspension systems are powered by the car’s battery and are therefore integrated into the vehicle’s electrical system. Electrical faults in the vehicle can sometimes cause problems with the air suspension system. This is where diagnostic software coupled with electrical diagnostic methods work in tandem to pinpoint the root cause of the faults. Where other workshops will start replacing expensive components, Deutsche Technik can find inexpensive electrical and computer programming related solutions. At DT, we have two dedicated diagnostic software and electrical specialists. They are formally educated in the electrical field of automotive with over ten years of diagnostic software experience each.